Iowa Governor Should Tell Court ‘Thanks but No Thanks’

Lynchburg, VA â€“ Matt Barber, Director of Cultural Affairs with both Liberty Alliance Action and Liberty Counsel* released the following statement today encouraging Iowa Governor Chet Culver to honor his obligation to uphold the Iowa Constitution and refuse to issue marriage licenses to same-sex pairs.

â€œIn Baker v. Nelson, the U.S. Supreme Court refused to imagine there exists a â€˜constitutional rightâ€™ to â€˜same-sex marriage.â€™ It held that if the Court were to create such a right, it would amount to an unconstitutional act of â€˜judicial legislation.â€™ With its recent opinion charging that such a right exists and ordering that, starting today, marriage licenses be given to homosexual duos, the Iowa Supreme Court has done just that. It has co-opted the role of both the legislative and executive branches of government and has presumed to unconstitutionally create and administer law from the bench.

â€œThis presents the perfect opportunity for Iowa Governor Chet Culver â€“ who publicly opposes â€˜gay marriageâ€™ â€“ to give the Iowa Supremes and the American people a much needed lesson in â€˜separation of powers.â€™ The constitutional process cleverly provides intrinsic checks and balances to avoid tyrannical governance from any one branch of government,â€ said Barber. â€œThe Iowa Supreme Court has attempted to fundamentally redefine the millennia-old definition of natural marriage in direct conflict with the constitutionally codified will of the people and the legislature. It doesnâ€™t get much more tyrannical than that.

â€œFor any new law to be properly implemented, either the people of Iowa â€“ through ballot initiative â€“ or the state legislature would have to affirmatively create that new law. And, of course, if such a law arrived on the Governorâ€™s desk by way of the legislature, he has every right to either sign it or veto it.

â€œIn this instance, the court has arbitrarily and unilaterally attempted to circumvent the constitutionally proscribed process and constructively impose a new law on the people of Iowa. It has issued an â€˜opinionâ€™ and an opinion is just that. The Court has no constitutional means or right to enforce its unconstitutionally imposed opinion. If the Judiciary is supreme lawmaker, then it renders the other two branches of government politically impotent. Why even have executive and legislative branches of government if we ultimately live under a judiciocracy?â€ asked Barber.

â€œGovernor Culver has an opportunity to do what former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney refused to do when given the same chance. That is, to uphold his state Constitution and become a champion to â€˜we the peopleâ€™ in the process. Culver should tell the Iowa Supreme Court, â€˜thanks but no thanksâ€™ and immediately order that no further marriage licenses be given to any couple that does not meet the common sense requirements properly in existence since the day the Iowa Constitution was drafted.â€